Wednesday 22 February 2012 15.50 EST
First published on Wednesday 22 February 2012 15.50 EST

One of Fabio Capello's final acts as England manager was his perplexing decision to base the team in the Polish city of Krakow during Euro 2012, even though all England's group games were subsequently drawn to take place hundreds of miles away in Ukraine.

Markiyan Lubkivskyi, Ukraine's Euro 2012 tournament director, suggested that England may come to regret choosing Krakow's modestly equipped Hutnik Municipality Stadium, the home of a fourth division Polish side, as their distant training headquarters this June. "I only wish that this decision will not influence the successful performance of the English team," Lubkivskyi told the Guardian. "Training facilities are very good in Ukraine; the quality of our pitches is excellent."

In the wake of Capello's departure the Football Association expressed immense faith in its choice of Krakow, a lively party city in which England's players should not succumb to the "boredom" suffered at their secluded Rustenburg base during the last World Cup in South Africa. Elsewhere in Europe, however, that decision is widely regarded as misplaced, not to mention somewhat geographically illiterate.

England face a 930-mile excursion to Donetsk – a slightly longer journey than that between London and Krakow – where they meet France on 11 June, before returning to Poland immediately afterwards. They then head 540 miles to Kiev to play Sweden before embarking on another near 2,000-mile round trip to Donetsk to face Ukraine on 19 June. Should England win the group their quarter-final would be in Kiev, while finishing runners-up consigns them to a third jaunt to Donetsk.

France will be based at Shakhtar Donetsk's training headquarters. One of three top-class sports complexes in the eastern Ukrainian city, it is regarded as among the best in Europe. Indeed Eduardo, the former Arsenal striker now with Shakhtar, has described its nine pitches, state-of-the-art medical centre, restaurant and five-star hotel accommodation as being at least the equal of the facilities he enjoyed in north London.

Sweden, unlike England, took the precaution of booking bases in Poland and Ukraine before December's draw while retaining the option of cancelling the less geographically appropriate one, and they are borrowing Dynamo Kiev's ultra-modern training ground in the capital.

Under tournament rules Capello had until the end of January to make a last-minute change of base but he said he had "absolutely no intention" of staying in Ukraine. The downside of such dogma is that commuting from Poland not only involves lengthy plane journeys, but the need for temporary overnight pre-match accommodation.

While Kiev boasts a wide selection of hotels, Uefa's decision to block-book the five-star Donbass Palace hotel in Donetsk dictates England's only option is the more modest Ramada, built in the Soviet era. "There are some issues here with transport and hotels but training facilities are the one area where Donetsk is genuinely up there with the best in Europe," said Alexander Atamanenko, chief executive of Shakhtar Donetsk's Donbass Arena. "When I saw the photographs of England's training camp in Poland, I was surprised."

While the FA is adamant England's reportedly sub-standard training pitches in Krakow will be repaired before their arrival and the sparse medical facilities totally revamped, the feeling they have chosen badly persists. "We are surprised by England's decision," said Borys Kolensikov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister. "We may be a former Soviet country but in terms of sports infrastructure, ours is better than many in Europe."

Lubkivskyi is determined to alter the sort of negative perceptions of Ukraine presumably harboured by Capello. "Today our readiness is around 90% but I can confidently say that, at the start of the tournament, Ukraine will be 100% ready.

"The championship is an opportunity to make a leap in quality of life, for our citizens and visitors. New roads, infrastructure, comfortable transport, high-speed trains, new modern airports, reconstructed train stations, new hotels and so many other things will change the face of our country and be implemented for the tournament."He is also proud that, with Poland, Ukraine is implementing a Respect Diversity programme in conjunction with Football Against Racism in Europe. This involves more than 80,000 police officers and stewards having anti-discrimination training. "Hundreds of inclusivity zones will be created," Lubkivskyi said. "Spaces open and accessible to all, regardless of ethnic or national background, gender, disability or sexual orientation."